Go behind the scenes at the Getty and live in Italy for a month

Katherine Acuna

Pierce College students have the exclusive opportunity to take a class that explores behind the scenes at local museums and allows them to study art history in Italy with the “Summer in Florence” study abroad program.

Pierce College is the first in the Los Angeles Community College District to offer a museum studies class, which is an experimental collaboration with the Getty.

According to Georgia Mercer, LACCD Board of Trustees member, Pierce was chosen because of art department Vice Chair Constance Moffatt’s past work experience with the Getty and Pierce President Robert Garber’s support for the pilot program.

“Also,” Mercer added, “the close proximity to the Getty made a lot of sense for Pierce and I pursed it because I knew some of the Getty staff as well.”

Professor Moffatt says the class is not limited to art or art history majors but could also be valuable for majors including business, anthropology, history and chemistry. The class, limited to 25 people, meetings at the Getty Center, Getty Villa, LACMA and Pierce.

Students will meet museum staff, such as department directors, curators, conservators, collection managers, educators and exhibition designers.

“Museum curators will explain how a show is put together from start to finish,” Moffatt said.

In the future, other professors within the district may offer the class.

“At this point, the second step is going to be working with the Getty to hopefully have faculty workshops that incorporate all nine campuses and some of our sister colleges like Santa Monica and Pasadena,” Mercer said.

In addition to teaching the museum studies class, Professor Moffatt is also participating in the summer abroad program, “Summer in Florence,” with ACCENT and Pierce. ACCENT is an independent study-abroad program provider that has coordinated overseas study programs in partnership with U.S. colleges and universities.

The opportunity to study art history while living in Florence, Italy offers an exciting way to earn credits. The class offered is Art 102: Art History Survey from Late Gothic to Modern (3 units; UC and CSU transferable) and includes a course in Survival Italian (no credit).

Florence becomes the ultimate classroom when the students explore the city’s cathedrals, monuments, churches, museums and galleries. Some on-site lectures will take place at Sassetti Chapel, Medici Palace and Uffizi Gallery.

But Moffat says the experience goes beyond just the lectures.

“I was a shy, protected girl from the Valley and I came back with confidence,” she said during the study-abroad meeting. “It can also be an opportunity to be independent and make lifelong friends.”

After the meeting, Pierce student Shannon Morton, psychology major, said, “I need the class. So, I would like to take advantage it and make friends for life.”

The program, which runs from June 15 to July 15, is open to students who are at least 18 years old. The cost is $3,100 and does not include airfare and other expenses such as meals, tuition fees and books.

During the month-long stay, students will live in apartments located throughout the city of Florence. The deadline to apply is April 15, 2009. More information on “Summer in Florence” is available by contacting ACCENT at (800)-869-9291, or Constance Moffatt at (818)-710-4365.

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